15 November 2006
It was a trip I had made a number of times since moving to the Central Valley of California. Get on the freeway, drive to the local airport, and return home. The previous journeys weren't incredibly exciting or out of the ordinary.
Saturday morning changed all that.
On the way home, I heard a thump-thump-thump sound from the back of the car. Not sure what was going on, I turned down the radio and listened closer. Sure enough, it was there and was getting louder. However, I had just passed the last opportunity to avoid getting on the freeway. I had no choice but to pull over at a safe location and find out what happened. After accomplishing that task, I opened the door and looked to see what was the matter. I discovered two things in the process:
1) One of the car's tires was flat.
2) What I considered to be a 'safe' location was anything but safe. The car was less than two feet off the roadway, leaving the distinct possibility of another vehicle hitting me from behind. In addition, I was stopped on the beginning of an overpass, which didn't allow for me to get out and walk to a safer location.
After making a phone call for assistance, I sat and waited. And so began forty of the most nerve-wracking minutes of my life as a constant line of 18-wheelers barreled towards the car at 70 miles per hour.
And in the moments between the phone call and the arrival of the tow truck, I realized what it means to be truly safe.
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In today's society, safety is of the utmost importance. We lock the doors to our homes at night—and activate the security system as an added measure of defense. Computers are data storehouses protected by passwords, firewalls, and encryption. When my daughter goes out for a bike ride, the law says that she has to wear a helmet—and she does.
This insatiable urge to be protected extends to our personal lives. If a situation makes us too uncomfortable, we get out of the situation (or increase our distance from it). In order to avoid dealing with an issue, we fill our waking hours with nonstop activities. For some of us, getting dressed means more than simply putting clothes on—it means putting on a façade for the world to see.
Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, being comfortable and safe are not what God desires in our lives?
The Bible is full of stories about people, just like ourselves, that lived lives of relative safety. When God showed up, they were faced with a crucial decision: stay safe or take a risk. Their choices were based on what they believed about God (who he was and what he could theoretically do).
In the books of Genesis and Exodus alone:
· Noah builds a rather large boat in the middle of the Middle East (nobody even knew what a boat was at the time), then gathers animals and his family, preserving them from a massive flood (see Genesis 6:9-9:17);
· Abram (later known as Abraham) moves from a safe situation to a nomad searching for a land unknown to him (Genesis 12:1-6);
· Abraham later takes his son Isaac and places him on an altar to sacrifice (he doesn't, thanks to God's intervention—see Genesis 22:1-17); and
· Moses goes from tending sheep to leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, despite his numerous pleas to get out of the situation (see Exodus 3:1-4:14).
Think about this for a moment: What would Simon and Andrew's lives have been like if they had decided not to respond to Jesus' call to follow him (Mark 1:16-18)? More than likely, they would've lived safe lives as fisherman and missed an adventure that would change their lives as well as countless others. If Paul didn't listen and respond to Jesus' voice while walking to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-22), the New Testament would be a lot shorter.
Whenever God unveils something he wants us to do, our safety is put at risk. Changes have to be made if we are to obey his directions. Otherwise, we remain in our comfortable and familiar situations—and in many occasions, that's more dangerous than obedience.
While in college, we had a problem in my dorm with individuals pulling the fire alarm at all hours of the night. In two years, we heard the alarm over sixty (60) times. Each time, we got dressed and slogged outside despite the temperature and conditions outside. As the number of alarms continued to increase, it became more and more difficult to get out of our warm beds and leave the building. I shudder to think what would've happened if one of those fire alarms would've been real.
So the questions arise: What does being safe look like in your life? Is there something that God has told you to do, but for some reason, you've not combined faith and action together? Can you afford to trust God, whose ways and thoughts are higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8)? What will you do as a result?
While sitting in my disabled car on Saturday morning, watching vehicles whiz past, I realized that I live life too safe. It's time for me to place my faith and trust more squarely in God's hands. I pray in the upcoming weeks that you would notice the changes.
As God refreshes you this week, may you in turn refresh others.
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track."
-- Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message)
"All happenings, great and small, are parables whereby God speaks.
The art of life is to get the message."
-- Malcolm Muggeridge
